Post 6 off to a strong start

Friday

It's a drought that dates back to 1928, when Manchester's Sweeney Post won New Hampshire's first American Legion baseball state championship.

It's a drought that dates back to 1928, when Manchester's Sweeney Post won New Hampshire's first American Legion baseball state championship.

Since then Portsmouth's Post 6 has fielded lots of good teams, but won zero state championships. Sweeney, by contrast, won its 27th state title in 2004.

Things may be different this summer. The Post Sixers may even move into the spotlight that's usually reserved for the Portsmouth Little League All-Stars during the hot months.

Thursday night's 15-0 triumph over Dover's Post 8 improved Portsmouth's District A record to 6-0. Post 6 has outscored its opponents 77-26 in those six district games.

Post 6 has an abundance of good pitching — the team has used six different starting pitchers in its six District A games — and perhaps even more good hitting. Post 6 has scored at least 10 runs in five of those six district contests. A doughnut has more holes than the typical Post 6 batting order.

"It's the most depth I've seen in a long time," Post 6 coach Rick Fransoso said. "The only problem is we have a lot of kids on the bench who could play for other teams. As long as you're winning the kids stay happy."

Is Post 6 capable of winning its first state championship this summer? Absolutely, and here's why:

Not only does the Post 6 roster include several players from the Portsmouth High School team that was good enough to earn the No. 1 seed for the Class I tournament last spring, the team is also getting healthy contributions from players who live outside the city limits — players like Stratham's Justin Higgins, North Hampton's Conor O'Keefe, Eliot's Zac Fernandes and Madbury's Jon Diveglia.

O'Keefe, an outfielder/first baseman who began playing American Legion ball for Exeter's Post 32 in 2005, said the possibility of winning a state championship was one of the main reasons he decided to try out for Post 6 this year. He's one of four players on the Post 6 roster who played high school baseball at Winnacunnet.

O'Keefe has spent most of the season hitting either third or fourth in the batting order and has been one of the team's most productive offensive players. He hit his third home run of the season in Thursday's victory over Dover. First baseman Andrew Hebert hit his third home run as well.

"I thought there would be a big opportunity to win a state championship here," O'Keefe said. "We've just got loads of pitching, and especially at this level pitching is what wins. At the same time we've been able to mash the ball."

Diveglia is part of a Post 6 pitching staff that has received offensive support similar to what Josh Beckett has enjoyed with the Red Sox this season, but a back injury made him little more than a question mark when tryouts began.

That same back injury KO'd Diveglia for most of last summer, and prevented him from playing for Northern Essex Community College in the spring as well. Fransoso wasn't even sure Diveglia would be on the roster.

"I had no idea I was going to be ready either," Diveglia said. "I went to tryouts thinking, 'If it bothers me it bothers me. I won't play. If it doesn't, I'll keep playing.' It hasn't bothered me so far.

"They said I didn't need surgery, and I've been doing a lot of strength training. I can still feel it (the injury), but it's not like it used to be."

Diveglia, whose fastball was clocked at 91 mph earlier this season, began the year as the team's closer, but made his first start in Thursday's victory over Dover. He struck out 10 and allowed four hits in seven innings. The game ended after the seventh because of the 10-run rule.

"I kind of wrote him off," Fransoso said. "He could have a good future somewhere. He's got a lot of talent. I hope he stays healthy."

Post 6 is barely a quarter of the way through its 20-game regular-season schedule and questions about winning a state championship clearly make Fransoso uncomfortable, but even he admits that his team has as much talent as any in the state.

No one is planning any celebration parties for Post 6 at this point, but for the first time in a long time the possibility of winning a state title seems realistic. This is the year the drought could end.

"I definitely think we have a chance to win a state championship," Diveglia said. "And go even further than that."

Roger Brown is a Herald staff writer. He can be reached at rbrown@seacoastonline.com.

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